Floor-clamp.



C. C. CARL.

noon CLA MP.

APPLICATION -HLED APR. 17, 1916.

Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

f 6 J W 51 W 4 W .m a m a Z@ W W a llllH CHESTER C. CARL, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA.

FLOOR-CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 0, 19917.

Application filed. April 17, 1916. Serial No. 91,730.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Crinsrnn C. CARL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Fair-field, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floor- Clamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to a floor clamp and has for its principal object the production of a device which is so constructed as to be positively retained in a set position when in operation so that upon the movement of the lever a loose board which is about to be nailed in place may first be moved to its correct position in engagement with the next adjacent board of the floor which is being laid.

Another object of this invention is the production of a floor clamp wherein the frame is slidably carried upon the plunger in such a manner that when the plunger is carried in a fixed position the cam end of the lever by bearing upon the end of the plunger will move the frame thus moving a loose board to its correct position.

Another object of this invention is the production of a floor clamp wherein the frame member after being moved to a position for clamping a loose board will be held in its set fixed position by means of a pivotally mounted dog, although when the lever is released it will swing downwardly automatically engaging the upper end of the dog, thereby releasing the dog from its binding engagement with the plunger, and thus permitting the frame to move to its normal place upon the plunger.

With these and other objects in view this invention consists of certain novel combinations, constructions, and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the floor clamp as constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the floor clamp, illustrating the same in use.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View of one end of the clamp, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the opposite end of the clamp showing the same partly in elevation, taken on the line en of Fig. 2.

d Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the Fig. 6 is an elevation of a modified form of grip which is used in connection with this floor clamp when the clamp is used for laying or clamping boards upon rafters or beams.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the device as shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals it will be seen that l designates the elongated plunger having a straight end 2. The frame 3 is positioned upon the plunger 1 since this frame although being rather thin in cross-section is provided with a longitudinal enlarged bore 4 extending therethrough for the reception of the plunger 1. In this manner it will be seen that the frame 3 is slidably mounted upon the plunger 1 for purposes to be hereinafter set forth. It should be noted that the strip holder 5 formed upon one end of the frame 3 extends transversely across the forward end of the frame and is provided with a groove 6 into which the tongue of a board or the tongue of a block if so desired may be positioned when the floor is about to be laid. This strip holder 5 is adapted to carry a screw or other suitable securing means 7 to which one end of the coil spring 8 is attached. The opposite end of this coil spring is connected to the cotter pin 9 carried by the plunger 1 and extending through the alined slots 10 formed in the frame 3. Thus, it will be seen that the urging of the spring 8 is such as to cause the frame to be pulled toward one end of the plunger under normal conditions for retaining the greater portion of the plunger within the frame.

The lever 11 is provided with an enlarged cam 12 formed upon one end thereof which is pivotally connected to the frame 3 adjacent one end by means of the pivot pin 13. As will be noted by referring particularly to Fig. 4 one end of the frame 3 is open and into this open end the cam 12 extends. Since the pin 13 is carried by the frame 3 and passes through the cam 12 it will be seen that the lever 11 will be pivotally supported. It will be noted that under normal conditions the straight end 2 of the plunger 1 is against the straight edge 14: of the cam 12 although the periphery of the cam is curved somewhat circular as indicated at 15 As a consequence, it will be seen that 5 when the lever 11 is swung upwardly as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 the curved periphery of the cam 12 by engaging the end of the plunger 1 will urge the plunger from the interior of the frame or rather, the frame will be caused to slide along the plunger.

The transversely extending strip carrier 16 is mounted upon the end of the frame 3 opposite to the strip carrier 5 and the strip carrier 16 is constructed so as to extend for a considerable distance below the lower portions of the frame 3. This strip carrier 16 is further provided with a groove 17 formed therein for carrying the grooved block or strip 18. It should be noted that this strip carrier 16 is provided with a projection 19 in which there is formed an opening 20 for the reception of the lower end of the dog 21. This dog 21 is pivotally retained in engagement with the projection by means of the pivot pin 22 passing through this projection and the lower end of the dog, as shown in Fig. 3. This dog 21 is provided with a longitudinal slot 23 formed therein so as to permit the plunger 1 to pass therethrough as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This dog has the portion communicating with the upper end of the slot 23 beveled as shown at 241- to provide the biting edge 25. lVhen the lever 11 is operated so as to slide the frame along the plunger 1 it will be seen that the dog 21 will also move from the plunger 1. lVhen, however, the movement of the lever 11 is discontinued the tendency of the spring 8 will be to move the frame along the plunger 1 until the plunger is carried almost completely within the frame. Under such conditions, however, the dog 21 will be caused to have its biting edge 25 dig into the upper portion of the plunger, thus holding the plunger and the frame in set positions with respect to each other. This action is caused because of the fact that the lower end of the dog is pivoted while the upper end is straight, and as a consequence, the movement of the plunger into the frame will have a tendency to tilt the dog over toward the forward end of the frame, while the movement at the lower end of the dog would further tend to tilt the dog and as a consequence the edge 25 by biting into or binding over positively upon the upper portion of the plunger 1 will hold the plunger and frame in set positions with respect to each other. In order to prevent any possibility of the dog accidentally releasing its binding action there is provided a coil spring 26 which has one end connected as shown at r 27 to-the frame and the opposite end con- 65 nected to the dog, asshown at 28. The tension of this spring will normally urge the biting edge 25 of the dog into a more positive binding engagement with the plunger 1, thus holding the plunger and frame in set positions with respect to each other.

A thickened body 29 is formed upon the outer end of the plunger 1 and this thickened body 29 has a sleeve 30 mounted thereon. This sleeve 30 is adapted to receive a pin 31 having a head 32 formed thereon so as to permit the spring 33 to bear upon the upper end of the sleeve and upon the lower portion of the head 32 for normally urging the pin 31 upwardly. It should be noted that the lower end of the pin 31 is pointed as shown at 34: so that it may be driven into the floor or other supporting surface as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. In order to retain this pin within the sleeve 30 the set screw 35 passes through the vertical slot 36 formed in the sleeve 30 whereby this action is accomplished.

lVhen this floor clamp is used for clamping the boards of an upper floor upon a floor which has already been laid the pin 31 is driven into one of the boards of the lower floor 37. As it is, of course, necessary to place the first board against a wall or vertical structure it will be impossible to have this first board connected to the strip carrying member 16 or the block 18 carried thereby. As a consequence, the strip carrying member Will receive a block at the forward end of the clamp and this block may be placed in engagement with the first board. As the lever 11 is swung upwardly the frame will be urged forwardly since the plunger 1 will be held in a set position by reason of the pin 31 being driven into the lower floor 37. The movement of the lever under such conditions is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, while the forward movement of the frame isalso shown in dotted lines in this figure. As soon as the board has been nailed in position the lever 11 may be swung downwardly to rest upon the upper portion of the frame 3. This action will cause the curved shoulder 38 of the lever 11 to strike upon the beveled upper end 39 of the dog 21. This action of the lever 11 by permitting being dropped to its normal position will cause the dog to be swung from its binding action and under such conditions the tension of the spring 8 will draw the frame along the plunger until the plunger is carried almost entirely within the frame.

It is, of course, obvious that after a number of boards in said upper floor 40 have been laid the block 18 of the strip carrier 16 may be positioned in engagement with the loose board which is about to be nailed and the operation of the lever continued as above set forth.

When this device is being usedfor laying the first flooring upon the beams or for mounting boards upon rafters, or the like, the set screw 35 is first removed so as to permit the pin 31 to be displaced. At this time the stem 41 of the grip body 42 is passed upwardly through the sleeve 30 and is retained in position by means of the cotter pin 43. This grip body fl is provided with an enlarged pocket 4st through which the oppositely extending flanges l5 communicate. It should be noted that these flanges 45 are provided with the biting edges d6 which extend oppositely so that as pressure is brought to bear upon the stem -11 due to the actuating of the lever when the beard is being clamped in position the biting edges will be swung or moved in opposite directions so as to bite into abeam f? for holding the clamp from accidentally slipping. As a consequence, it will be seen that the grip body will positively bind upon the beam for holding the clamp from slipping therealong when the clamp is being used for holding the boards in their correct positions for being nailed.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a very efiicient floor clamp has been provided w ich may be used for laying either first or second floors or for boards upon plain rafters and which is constructed so that it may be used upon different thicknesses, of boards, or even upon ceilings with equal facility. Furthermore, it wilLbe seen that by the simple construction of the lever the frame will move along the plunger which is held in a set position for laying the boards and, further, that when the lever is released it will fall to its normal position, thereby causing the beveled shoulder thereof to swing the dog to one side and thus release the set en agement of the frame with respect to the plunger, whereby the frame will move to its normal position which is disclosed prior to the first clamping action of the device.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plunger,means for anchoring said-plunger in a set position, a frame slidably mounted upon said plunger, means for normally urging said frame in one direction along said plunger, a lever pivotally mounted upon said frame, said lever provided with a cam, said cam engaging the end of said plunger, whereby when the lever is swung said cam by bearing upon the end of said plunger will urge the frame in one direction for moving a board, a dog pivotally mounted upon said frame, said dog provided with a longitudinal slot formed therein, said plunger extending through said slot, said dog being provided with a biting edge, means for normally urging said dog in one direction, whereby when the frame is moved to an adjusted set position along said plunger the biting edge of said dog will bite into or frictionally bear upon said plunger for holding said frame and plunger from moving to a closed position, and means for releasing said dog from its binding action H for permitting the frame and plunger to move to closed positions.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plunger, means for anchoring said plunger in a set position, a frame slidably mounted upon said plunger, means for normally urging said frame in one direction along said plunger, a lever pivotally mounted upon said frame, said lever provided with a cam, said cam engaging the end of said plunger, whereby when the cam is swung said cam by bearing upon the end of said plunger will urge the frame in one direction for moving a board, a dog pivotally mounted upon said frame, said dog provided with a longitudinal slot formed thereln, said plunger extending through said slot, said dog being provided with a biting edge, means for normally urging said dog in one direction, whereby when the frame is moved to an adjusted position along said plunger the biting edge of said dog will bite into or frictionally bear upon said plunger for holding said frame and plunger from moving to closed positions, said dog provided with a beveled upper end, said lever being provided with a curved shoulder, whereby when the lever is released it will fall to its normal position so as to cause the curved shoulder to ride upon the beveled end of said dog, thereby swinging the dog from its biting action, whereby the plunger and frame will be released so that they may move to their normal positions.

3. In a device of the class described, the a combination of a plunger, means for anchoring said'plunger in a set position, a frame slidably mounted upon said plunger, means for automatically urging said frame in one direction, a dog pivotally mounted upon said frame and engaging said plunger, a biting edge formed upon said dog for frictionally binding upon said plunger, thereby holding .said frame in a set position, and said secondmentioned means being adapted to engage said dog for moving said dog and thereby permitting said frame to move on said plunger.

4-. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plunger, means for anchoring said plunger in a set position, a frame slidably mounted upon said plunger, a cam lever pivotally mounted upon said frame and engaging said plunger, whereby as said lever is swung in one direction said frame may be moved along said plunger, a dog pivotally mounted upon said frame, said dog having a biting edge frictionally binding upon said plunger for holding said frame in a set position, and said lever being adapted to engage said dog for moving said dog and thereby release said frame from its set position upon said plunger.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plunger, means for anchorin said lun er in a set osition a frame slidably mounted upon said plunger, a cam lever pivotally mounted upon said frame and engaging said plunger, whereby as said lever is swung in one direction said frame may be moved along said plunger, a dog pivotally mounted upon said frame, said dog having abiting edge frictionally binding upon said plunger for holding said frame in a set position, said dog having a beveled upper end, said lever having a curved shoulder at its free end, said dog being in the path of travel of said lever as said lever swings to a closed position, whereby said curved shoulder will strike upon the beveled end of said dog, thereby swinging said dog and thus causing said dog to release its binding engagement upon said plunger, whereby said frame may be free to move upon said plunger.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

CHESTER o. CARL.

(iopiel of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

